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Switchbord is an operator app — you access it through a browser at the domain it’s deployed to. Once you sign in, a short setup wizard walks you through attaching your WhatsApp channel and confirming your credentials before you open the inbox for real traffic.

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What you’ll need

  • A Switchbord workspace URL (provided by whoever deployed the instance)
  • A Meta WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) with an active phone number
  • Your Meta access token, webhook signing secret, and webhook verify token
1

Sign in to the operator app

Open your Switchbord URL and sign in with your account. After authentication you land on the main operator interface.If you land on /pending-access instead, your account hasn’t been provisioned into the workspace yet. Contact your workspace admin to be added, or ask them to check the bootstrap configuration if this is a brand-new instance.
2

Run the Setup wizard

Navigate to /setup. This one-time wizard walks you through everything needed before the workspace can handle live WhatsApp traffic:
  • Confirming your workspace profile and display name
  • Attaching your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) and phone number
  • Entering your Meta provider credentials
  • Validating the connection
Work through each section in order. The wizard shows a checklist so you can see which steps are complete at a glance.
3

Enter your WhatsApp credentials

In the Setup wizard’s Provider section, enter:
CredentialWhere to find it
Meta access tokenMeta Business Manager → WhatsApp → Configuration
Webhook signing secretMeta App Dashboard → Webhooks
Meta verify tokenA value you choose and configure in Meta
Switchbord sends these values directly to its secure Vault — they are never echoed back to the browser. After saving, you’ll only see a configured or missing status indicator, not the raw values.
4

Validate your configuration

Click Validate configuration in the Setup wizard. Switchbord checks that your Meta access token is valid and that the webhook endpoint is reachable.The checklist item for the Meta token should move from an error state to a clean validation status. If it doesn’t, confirm the token hasn’t expired and that it has the correct permissions in Meta.
5

Send a test message

Once validation passes, open the /inbox and send a controlled test message to a number you can verify. Confirm the message delivers before you start using the workspace for production traffic.

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The operator app at a glance

After setup, the main sections of the operator app are:

Inbox

Threaded WhatsApp conversations with assignment, shared replies, and service-window controls.

Contacts

Normalized contact records with tags, custom attributes, and opt-out state.

Templates

Provider-synced message templates with send eligibility validation.

Campaigns

Scheduled outbound broadcasts to audience snapshots.

Journeys

Automated flows with wait, branch, and send-template nodes.

Configuration

Ongoing configuration — token rotation, channel identity, workspace profile.
After initial setup, use Settings for ongoing maintenance like rotating your Meta access token. You don’t need to re-run the Setup wizard for routine credential updates.